Expansion stopper



Sept. 27, 1955 H. HELBIG EXPANSION STOPPER Filed April l, 1952 INVENTORHUG() HELBIG um /4 I 1V, v J

t v2,118,914 ExPANsIoN s'rorPER Hugo Helbig, Racine, Wis`.,`assignorto,Moeller Mfg. Co., Racine, Wis., a corporation Application April 1, 1952,Serial No. 279,890

1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-54) This invention appertains tov expansion Stoppersfor `sealing the necks of bottles and like containers.

Considerable diflcultyI has been experienced in the past with varioustypes of Stoppers designed for pop bottles and vacuum bottles, in thatprevious Stoppers usually leak pressure, do not seal completely aroundthe neck of the bottle, or are diflcult to use. The ordinary corkstopper for vacuum bottles, in particular, is hard to apply and toremove and invariably allows pressure and heat to escape.

It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of my invention, to providea bottle stopper embodying a body portion formed from rubber or otherresilient and compressible material, with means associated with the bodyfor uniformly compressing the walls of the body and to expand the samecircumferentially into intimate contact with the bottle mouth to formthe desired seal.

Another important object of my invention, is to provide a soft rubbercup-like jacket into which is received independent solid segments,associated to form a conical axial bore therethrough provided withsuitable spiral thread into which is received a correspondingly threadedor grooved winged plug which, when inserted in the conical bore, willspread the segments to compress the walls of the jacket and expand thestopper into contact with the bottle neck.

A still further object of my invention is to provide my rubber body orjacket with an upper peripheral flange which not only serves to supportthe stopper in the neck of the bottle, but also retains the segments inthe jacket.

Another object of my invention is to form a short and fast threadarrangement on the plug and segments which begin and end completelywithin the bore so that the plug may be snapped into place andthereafter be retained against accidental removal.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, arrangement, formation of parts, as will hereinafterbe more fully described,

' claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In which drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through my improved stopper, withthe winged plug snapped in place and turned to its upper inoperativeposition, the stopper being shown applied to a vacuum bottle in itsinoperative unsealed position;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view similar to Figure l of thedrawings, but showing the winged plug turned to a lowered operativeposition with the segments compressing the walls of the jacket tightlyabout the neck of the bottle;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View through my stopper taken on theline 3-3 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows and showingthe rubber body spaced from the neck of the bottle;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure2 looking in the direction of the States Patent ice arrows and showingmy stopper inits sealed position illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view through my stopper similar toFigures 1 and 2 of the drawing' but with my winged conical. plugremoved; and

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of my novel stopper.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar referencecharacters `designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter S generally indicates my novel stopper, and the same can bemade in various sizes for association with bottles: of diiferentcharacter, such as pop bottles, vacuum bottles and the like. i

In the drawings I have shown the stopper S ofy a size for use withvacuum bottles, and a fragment of the vacuum bottle V` has been shown inFigures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings. As the vacuum bottle V is of theusual character, the same will not be described in detail, but it is tobe noted that the bottle includes the double walls 10, 11 and arestricted neck 12.

My novel stopper S embodies an outer jacket or body portion 13 which canbe formed from rubber or other compressible material. The jacket 13 iscup shaped as shown and is provided with an enlarged upper peripheralflange 14. The flange 14 has an outer portion 15 and an inner portion16. The outer portion 15 supports the jacket or stopper on the mouth ofthe bottle while the inner portion 16 of the flange serves to retain thesolid segments 17, 18 and 19 in their proper positions.

It is to be noted that the solid segments 17, 18 and 19 are of a sizeand coniiguration to iit the inner contour-of the jacket 13. The solidsegments 17, 18 and 19 are so constructed that, when associated andretained within the jacket 13, they extend from the upper flange portion16 to the jacket bottom 20 and form with one another a conical openingor bore 21 extending centrally to the bottom 20 of the jacket 13. Thisconical bore 21 is provided with an external spiral or thread 22. Thesegments are also arranged to form the split openings 23 therebetween.

Received in the conical bore 21, is a cone-like plug 24 which isprovided with a correspondingly formed internal spiral groove or thread25. The solid segments 17, 18 and 19 and the conical plug 24 may be madeof any desired material but are preferably formed of plastic.

It is to be noted that the thread portions 22 and 25 of the solidsegments 17, 18 and 19 and plug 24 respectively, do not extendcompletely from top to bottom but each terminates short thereof so that,in assembling my novel stopper the segments must be spread slightly sothat the plug may be snapped into engagement with the conical bore. Thisserves to limit the turning movement of the plug and the same isretained against accidental removal.

In utilizing my novel stopper S, the conical plug 24 is moved to theposition as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings and no pressurewhatever is exerted against the walls of the jacket 13 through the solidsegments 17, 18 or 19. The stopper S is then inserted in the neck 12 ofthe bottle, Where it is supported by the outer portion 15 of the upperflange 14 as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. The plug is thenturned and due to the interlocking of the spiral thread 22, and spiraledgroove 25, the plug will move downwardly in the conical bore 21 andspread the solid segments outwardly against the outer wall 26 of thejacket 13. This will compress the wall 26 and expand my stoppercircumferentially into intimate engagement with the neck 12 of thebottle to form a seal as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings.

y bore surface, and a conical plug adapted to be received A salientfeature of my novel stopper resides in the n fact that the side wall 26of the jacket 13 is expanded uniformly and evenly against the mouth orneck 12 of the bottle to give 4a more perfect seal than has hithertobeen possible with prior devices.

Changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit or scopeof my invention, but what I claim as new is:

A bottle stopper comprising, an outer cup-like expansible body, an upperperipheral flange on said body having a portion extending beyond theouter periphery of the body and a portion extending beyond the innerperiphery of the body, said inner flange portion forming a top reducedcentral opening in said cup-like body, a series of solid segments,received in said cup-like body and retained by the inner ange portion,said segments being of a size and coniguration to conform to the contourof the body and being disposed to form a central conical boretherebetween, each segment having a respective portion of an externalspiral thread on its insaid conical bore having a corresponding internalthread therein, said plug and reduced central opening being soconstructed and arranged as to be spaced one from the other, saidthreads on the plug and segments respectively terminating short of thetop and bottom of said plug and segments to limit the turning movementof said plug, whereby the plug will be restrained and turning of theplug will spread the solid segments out- Wardly to expand the bodycircumferentially into intimate engagement with the mouth of a bottle.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS666,911 Steinberg Jan. 29, 1901 2,165,825 Bultzingslowen July 11, 19392,355,492 White Aug. S, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,132 .Y Great Britain lof 1896

